A Different Kind of Demon
by JMProfio
Summary: Bobby wakes up in a car and discovers that Dane's driven him all the way across the country, to a small town in Oregon. Dane claims that there's something in the town that could not only threaten Second Earth, but all of Halla, and it's been focused around the town of Gravity Falls. Enlisting the help of Dipper and Mabel Pines, they have to find a way to stop Bill Cipher for good.
1. Chapter 1

**[Author's Note: So I got this idea a couple days ago, and decided to start writing it. This is my first time writing a _Gravity Falls_ story, so those parts might not be as good or as in character as the _Pendragon_ bits. Just further proof that I can bring everything back to _Pendragon_ eventually. Also I'm planning on updating this two chapters at a time, changing the focus between the characters; one chapter _Pendragon_ , one chapter _Gravity Falls._ ]**

Bobby woke up to a sunrise, shining through a row of thick pine trees directly into his eyes. The light burned, and he squinted against the growing headache in his skull. Lifting his head from where it had slumped against the car door, he stared in bleary confusion at the pavement speeding by outside. Then, still bleary, he turned his attention to the driver.

Dane was staring straight ahead, glaring intensely. His black hair fell messily over his eyes, but he was ignoring it, driving with a purpose. And he was dressed... differently. _Normally,_ Bobby thought. He was dressed _normally._ The ex-demon was in a t-shirt and jeans, with a hoodie thrown on like an afterthought. Bobby cleared his throat, and Dane glanced over for a moment before directing his gaze back to the road.

"You're awake," he said. "I was hoping we'd be in town before it wore off."

"Why am I in your car?" Bobby mumbled, still fighting to clear his head. "Where _are_ we? What... what are you wearing?"

"I needed to blend in," Dane responded. "I don't want him to see me coming."

" _Who?_ What's going on?"

"I'll explain when we get there. Right now-"

"What a minute." Something was nagging at Bobby's brain, and he was having trouble making sense of his surroundings. He closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, then said, as calmly as he could manage, "Did you _drug_ me?"

"Maybe," Dane answered quickly. "Yes. It was necessary."

"I swear if you weren't driving right now I would punch you."

He sighed, obviously irritated. "If I had _asked_ you, you would have wanted to know why. And I didn't have time to explain. And I _still_ don't have time to explain, because if you hadn't noticed I'm trying to run a bus off the road."

" _What!?"_

"I know what you're thinking, but I can't let this bus leave Oregon."

" _Oregon?_ Jesus, Dane, how long was I asleep?"

The ex-demon hesitated, obviously not wanting to answer, and instead focused on the road as he responded. "About two days. But-"

" _Two days!?_ "

"But that isn't important right now-"

" _It isn't important!?_ "

"No, because I need you to-"

"You kept me knocked out for _two days_ and it's _not important-_ "

"Damnit, Bobby, shut the hell up and _duck_!"

The car swerved sharply to the side and Dane slammed on the brakes, and Bobby looked up to see the demon had pulled immediately in front of the bus; he immediately did as he was told and ducked, covering his head with his hands and continuing to shout as he heard the sharp screech of the larger vehicle trying to come to a halt.

" _What the hell Dane you're going to get us killed!_ "

The next moment was filled with an ominous silence. Bobby stayed crouched for a moment, tensed and waiting for the impact that didn't come. After a moment he heard the sound of a car door opening, and when he looked up he saw Dane had exited the car and was walking quickly toward the bus, which had managed to avoid the car and had instead careened head-on into a tree. Bobby couldn't see much from the car, but from what he could tell no one was hurt; the bus driver was standing on the grass, yelling at Dane, and there were two kids standing at the door of the bus, watching with obvious confusion.

With an irritated sigh, he opened his door and quickly ran off to follow him. Who knew what he was planning...

Dane completely ignored the yelling driver, focusing intently on the kids. They seemed worried, but at the same time they weren't backing down; Bobby had to admit, he was impressed. At their age—twelve or thirteen, and twins, by the look of it—he would have been scared senseless. Instead, they stared down Dane with a set determination; the girl was pointing a grappling hook at his chest. And she looked more than willing to shoot him with it, at point-blank range.

Bobby caught up with him, and immediately punched him in the shoulder. "What the _hell,_ Dane?"

The ex-demon looked at him, a good deal calmer than he had been in the car. "Good, you're in one piece. Now sit down and shut up." Then, not waiting for a response, he turned his attention to the twins. "Now then, you two. Get in the car—you're going back to town."

"Who are you?" the boy demanded. "What do you want?"

"Just get in the damn car. There's no time."

"Dane," Bobby muttered, trying his hardest not to punch the tall man a second time. " _Why_ are you trying to kidnap children?"

"I'm not," Dane responded, an eerie calm over his face. "Believe it or not, I'm trying to save Second Earth. From something a great deal worse than me."


	2. Chapter 2

The two men had been arguing for roughly five minutes now, and showed no sign of stopping any time soon. Dipper and Mabel watched silently, more confused by the strange turn of events than frightened. The strangers weren't the usual type of threat they were used to dealing with—compared to Bill, these two seemed almost normal, and the bus seemed in a better state than the _last_ time they'd tried to leave town. But something was definitely going on, and from what they could hear of the argument, it was something in Gravity Falls. Most of the argument, however, was completely Greek to them.

"The last time something threatened Second Earth, it was _you_ -"

"Well, it's not this time, and if _he_ keeps-"

" _Who_ , Dane? Who's so dangerous that you had to drug me-"

"-could possibly destroy all of _Halla_ if we let him-"

"-drove me across the entire _country_ then _ran down a bus_ -"

"I needed a Traveller, and _unfortunately_ you're the only one on this territory-"

"-and now you're _kidnapping children?_ "

"They're the only ones that can stop Bill!"

The twins looked at each other as they heard the name, a worried look passing over their faces. If they were talking about the same _Bill_ , that was a problem they had no desire to face again any time soon.

"Hey!" Dipper shouted, waving a hand to try to get the strangers' attention. "Are you guys talking about Bill _Cipher_?"

The two stopped arguing. The smaller of the two simply shot a look of irritated confusion at his partner, and the taller man's face grew grim. "Yes," he responded. "Though when I knew him he was simply going by 'Bill'. The 'Cipher' seems a rather pretentious addition, if you ask me."

The other man smirked slightly. "You're one to talk, Saint."

"Shut up."

Mabel lowered her grappling hook slightly, still holding it as if she were prepared to shoot at any moment. "But we beat Bill. For real this time."

"Yeah," Dipper agreed. "We-"

"Trapped him in someone's mind and erased it?" The taller man interrupted.

"Yeah."

Without another word, he turned and began walking back to his car. "He'll be back by now; we need to get to town, fast."

The other man cast the twins an apologetic look. "Sorry about him, he's... complicated."

This man seemed different from his companion. He was around the same age, by the look of it, but he carried himself in a more relaxed manner, even when he was obviously stressed, and he was watching his partner retrieve the car from the center of the road with the expression of a tired babysitter. He seemed much more... _human_.

"Do you really think Bill's back again?" Mabel asked.

He shook his head. "Kid, I don't even know who that _is_. All I know is the last time I saw Dane this invested in something, planets were nearly destroyed."


	3. Chapter 3

**[Author's Note: So much exposition. I feel like I needed to have at least a chapter in there of explaining the basic backstories of the different fandoms to the other, but... ugh, exposition. It was really hard to make this chapter not drag. Promise this will be the only chapter of just people sitting around talking.]**

Dane was driving well over the speed limit, swerving around any other cars and ignoring any sort of traffic light or sign. Bobby gripped his seatbelt with both hands, verifying that it was securely buckled as he pressed himself as far into his seat as he could. In the backseat, the twins seemed much calmer about the erratic driving, conversing calmly with Dane as if it were nothing at all.

"When did he get to Gravity Falls?" Dane asked quickly. "Tell me everything he's done."

"We don't really know _when_ he got here," Dipper explained. "I want to say a couple decades?"

"Yeah," Mabel agreed. "He tricked our Grunkle Ford into making this big portal thing, then I think he went away for a while? Then Gideon summoned him back and he's been bothering us all summer."

"He tried to invade our Grunkle Stan's mind-"

"-Then he used Dipper as a human sock puppet-"

"-Then he took over Gravity Falls and trapped Mabel in a dream bubble-"

"-And everything got really weird-"

"-Then he went inside Grunkle Stan's mind and we erased it and got rid of Bill-"

"-But Grunkle Stan's mind got erased too, but he got better because of Waddles!"

Mabel lifted up the pig that she'd dragged into the car with her, and it squealed and flailed its arms. Bobby stared blankly at the two children, who were talking about all of this weird stuff without so much as a single indication that it was strange. Waddles squealed again and licked his arm; he pulled back slightly, patting it on the head.

"That made no sense to me," the ex-traveler said, looking between the twins and Dane for any sort of explanation. "This guy can get into people's heads? How can he-"

"He's from Solara," Dane interrupted. "I'm sure Press explained to you what we could do?"

"Solara?" Bobby racked his memory, trying to remember what his Uncle Press had told him about the beings of Solara. "It's still kind of fuzzy, but... he said beings of Solara were like guardian angels? And they could visit people in their dreams?"

"Like the Mindscape?" Dipper asked.

"The Mind-what?" Bobby repeated.

"Exactly," Dane replied. "Beings of Solara can access the Mindscape, and converse with people through their dreams. It's also possible to gain full access to someone's mind, but they have to give their consent first—a contract, a handshake, something like that. Press never approved of actively altering things, but I found it useful when building Ravinia."

"What's Ravinia?" Mabel asked.

"Yeah, it sounds like a cheap metal band," Dipper added.

Dane brought the car around a corner a little sharper than was really necessary, and Bobby clutched his seatbelt even tighter.

"Probably best to talk about that later," Bobby responded. "Maybe when Dane _isn't_ driving. I don't know about you guys, but I'd like to live. Let's just say it was pretty big, and Dane was pretty proud of it."

"Until you destroyed it," the ex-demon muttered under his breath.

"You were taking over the universe!" Bobby snapped. "I didn't exactly have time to admire the architecture!"

"Of course, you were too busy letting me die."

"You know we didn't have a choice-"

"Of _course_ not! It's the _way it was meant to be_ , right?"

"Look, I never thought that-"

"You never _think_ about anything-"

"Says the guy that insulted his _one follower_ -"

In the back seat, the twins looked at each other in confusion, listening to the grown men argue back and forth like children. Eventually Mabel stuck Waddles in between them with a shout of, "Okay~, maybe we should all just calm down? Does Waddles need to separate you two?"

Dane glared momentarily at the pig, then turned his attention back to the road without a word. Bobby patted Waddles on the head, sighing slightly as he calmed down.

"Sorry about that," he said, looking over his shoulder at the back seat. "Things have been a little tense."

"I'll say," Mabel added with a laugh.

"So what's the story with you guys?" Dipper asked. "You said Bill was from somewhere called Solar, or Sunset, or-"

"Solara," Bobby responded. "It's kind of like this realm of beings that are supposed to help people with their live choices and help them make the right decisions. Dane used to be part of it, but he didn't agree with their plans, and tried to split off and do things his own way. He nearly took over the whole universe, making everyone part of this cult he called Ravinia."

Dane glared at him. "It wasn't a cult."

"What do you call a group of people in identical outfits following a single person blindly in his quest to make everyone think the same?"

"Sounds like a cult to me," Dipper said.

"Fine," the ex-demon replied. "It was a cult. And it very nearly succeeded."

"Yeah," Bobby said, "'Til I kicked your ass and destroyed your version of Solara. That reminds me," he turned back toward the twins. "Did Bill have some sort of world he could go to besides the Mindscape? Like Dane's was all big rocks and evil versions of famous landmarks."

"Like the Weirdmageddon place?" Mabel asked. "He made this big portal in the sky and brought all these weird things through."

"That sounds like Bill," Dane muttered. "He always had a flair for the dramatic."

"You're one to talk," Bobby retorted.

Dane shook his head. "At least mine made sense. My version of Solara was based off of negative energy—hate, envy, greed—and so it looked like a negative version of Solara. Bill always had a fascination with chaos—it's what he's using for power. Pure chaos, chance, and improbability. It's not a place I'd like to visit again."

"Again?" Bobby repeated. "You've _been_ there?"

"Yes. And it's not a place anyone should go if you want to keep your sanity. It's also not a place that can be destroyed; Bill has a much bigger following than I did, and he treats them more as equals than minions."

"So what do we do?"

"There's another way to kill a being of Solara; I heard Press talking about it once. We need something that can gather a large amount of opposing energy against him, enough to overpower the strength of his Solara and destroy him. I have no idea what it would be, though."

"You mean like a circle?" Mabel asked. "Grunkle Ford had this circle thing he was trying to use to beat Bill."

"Yeah," Dipper chimed in. "We all had to stand on these symbols and hold hands to get it to work, but Bill found us before we could."

Dane was silent, his expression thoughtful.

"Well?" Bobby asked. "Do you think it could work?"

The ex-demon shook his head. "I'd have to see the circle."

"It was in the journals," Dipper said. "But Bill burned all of those during Weirdmageddon."

"Grunkle Ford knows it," Mabel added. "But him and Grunkle Stan are about to go on some adventure or something."

"Then we should hurry," Dane answered.


	4. Chapter 4

**[Author's Note: Hey I'm actually updating! I've been kinda preoccupied with other stuff lately, school stuff and family drama and long-awaited updates and the like, but here's another chapter! Also I'm getting into the territory of "characters I'm less sure how to write" so this could get interesting in the next few chapters. I've got the last chapter (way down the line from where this is now) all planned out, and I know what I want to happen to get to that point but I've been having trouble thinking of how to write it, so it's been slow going. Also I should probably mention that this isn't in the same continuity as my other _Pendragon_ stories, which I keep finding ways to link together. In this continuity Dane reappeared in book-10 form without his powers, and he and Bobby have this awkward tense truce/friendship. I think I originally planned it in the same continuity, but this works better for some stuff I have planned for later.]**

Dane didn't look happy.

This wasn't exactly something new, considering the way he'd been acting, but once Bobby had exited the car and the group had started approaching the large building labeled as "The Mystery Shack", Dane had begun to look even more disgruntled. The demon was still standing by the car, staring intently at the two figures by the entrance as they greeted Dipper and Mabel with a happy confusion. Bobby couldn't see why he was so upset—they looked like normal old guys, probably brothers, and they seemed like pretty nice guys. The twins were busily explaining what was happening, gesturing back at the car. The older men looked over at Bobby and Dane, and immediately one of them frowned.

Without a word, the man who had frowned walked over to where Dane was standing by the car. The demon stared him down, speaking calmly and evenly as he mumbled, "Stanford."

'Stanford' responded by punching Dane squarely in the jaw, hard enough to send him sprawling. Bobby moved quickly in between them with a quick shout of "Whoa!" as Dipper and Mabel ran over with worried expressions and the other man remained on the porch, laughing raucously.

Dane rose back to his feet, his hand rubbing what was sure to be a bruise within the hour. "I'll admit, I deserved that."

"Do you ever not?" Bobby asked humorlessly. "What did you do _this_ time?" The demon didn't answer, instead locked in a glaring contest with Stanford. Bobby sighed, burying his face in his hands for a moment before taking a deep breath. A fist to the face seemed to the be universal way to greet Dane—when he'd reappeared, Courtney had responded the same way. Then it was usually up to Bobby to defuse the situation, which most times was easier said than done. "Okay, I know Dane doesn't always leave the best impressions on people. In fact, he usually leaves the worst possible impression." Dane's glare redirected to Bobby, but he remained silent. "But whatever he did before, he couldn't do it again if he tried. And if he did try I wouldn't let him. Right now we need to focus on something a lot more important than any of this, because I already stopped an apocalypse once and I don't really want to have to do all that again because I'd just gotten used to being normal again for a little."

Stanford regarded Bobby with suspicion. "I don't know who you are, but if you have anything to do with _him_ , it would be in your best interest to leave."

"Grunkle Ford!" Mabel interjected. "They're trying to help!"

"Kids," Ford responded. "You don't understand how he works. This man is part of a group that prides themselves on promoting their own ideals. They don't interfere. They don't help."

Dane started to laugh bitterly, and Ford shot him another glare. Bobby looked at him questioningly, then realization dawned on him.

" _Wait_ ," the traveler said slowly. "You don't think that _Dane_ interferes. You said he's part of a group..." He turned to face Dane, a light disbelieving smile on his face. "People hated you _before_ you left Solara?!"

"He _left_ Solara?!" Ford exclaimed, equally thrown.

The demon smirked humorlessly. "Don't look so surprised. I wasn't the first."

"Of course not," he responded. "If you're here looking for Bill, you're too late."

"Actually," Dipper said. "They said there's a chance he's still here. Something about his power source being in one piece?"

Bobby nodded in agreement. "Yeah, if his power source is still there, chances are he's not gone yet. It took years to wear down Dane's."

"And I'm not dead yet," Dane muttered. He turned his attention to Ford, serious determination on his features. "You have no reason to trust me, Stanford. I understand that. Rest assured, if I had gone back after I left Solara, I would have asked you to join me. But my plans didn't work out so well. If I could stop Bill on my own, I would have, but when I lost my power I lost any chance of being able to do that. So I'm asking you to help. Not for my sake, but for the sake of this town. For your grandchildren and their friends. For all of Halla."

Ford was silent for a moment, regarding the ex-demon in front of him. Eventually he responded, "You've lost your powers, too?"

Bobby nodded. "Yeah, I fought him for four years, but he's pretty much harmless now. If a bit melodramatic. By the way," he held out his hand and smiled politely. "I'm Bobby, by the way. Nice to meet you."

The older man shook his hand, eyeing the two suspiciously. Then he turned, and began to walk back toward the Mystery Shack. "We should talk about this inside. I don't know if I should trust either of you, but it would be safer in there than out here."

The twins and Bobby followed him, and Dane tagged along at a slower pace. He stopped in front of the porch, scrutinizing the wood panelings closely with a slight smile on his face. Bobby stopped in the doorway and turned, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"You okay?" the traveler asked. "You look like you just thought of the punchline to a joke."

Dane gestured to a thin, colorful line around the edge of the porch, still smiling in amusement. "It's a protective circle, effective against beings like Bill. Honestly I'm impressed." He looked up with a grin, adding, "Stanford, how in _Halla_ did you get unicorn hair?"

From inside, Mabel exclaimed, "I punched it in the face!"

The demon's expression turned to complete and utter surprise. Then he very calmly sat down on the front step, and began to laugh.

 **[Just gonna end this chapter here. I've been having some super bad writer's block lately, but I swear it'll get better soon! I'm gonna start working on the next chapter as soon as I upload this (or maybe I'll work on one of my many oneshot ideas I've been planning. There's too many irons in the fire for me to be weaving a tangled web like this. It's a tangled web of flaming irons and mixed metaphors, and I've also been catching up on webcomics so that's time consuming. I'll try to have the next chapter up soon!]**


	5. Chapter 5

**[Author's Note: Whoops sorry I uploaded this to Ao3 months ago and forgot to put this chapter on here I am so sorry]**

The hidden study was coated in a thin layer of dust, curtains bolted over what appeared to be large murals on the walls. On the far table, Ford had laid out several notes and sketches, most prominently a large circle lined with designs, with a rough triangle sketched in the center. Dane leaned over it, mumbling to himself and running his hands over the designs. "Strength. Will. Clarity..."

Bobby glanced over his shoulder at the blueprint, then back up at his companion. "So..." he said. "Wanna clue me in as to what this is?"

"It's a banishing circle," Ford explained. "Basically, it gathers a number of opposing strengths together, and uses that power to deflect its opposition. In this case, Bill."

Dane nodded in agreement. "These can take many different forms. Circles, or in some cases, a talisman worn by everyone involved."

Lifting his hand to the light, Bobby ran a finger over the thin gray ring he'd worn for the past seven years. "Talismans like rings?"

The demon nodded. "The process isn't pleasant for the target, _trust_ me, but it isn't lethal, either. Not completely. I'm proof of that."

"I thought that might have been the case," Ford said with a frown. "At the very least, I hoped it would diminish Bill's power enough that he would be forced out of this dimension."

Dane scoffed in light amusement. "That's always the problem with us demons. We have a spectacular talent for saving our own skin. For me, it was as simple as taking on some inanimate form until some unfortunate soul made contact with it and gave me enough power to return. In his weakened state, Bill might have done the same."

"So he could be anything in the universe?" Bobby asked. "How are we supposed to find him?"

"Not anything," the demon responded. "Believe it or not, Bill is far more vain than I am. Shapeshifting was his least favorite ability; he'll be in some form similar to his usual appearance." He tapped the triangle in the center of the diagram, and the former Traveler noticed the faded eye drawn on its surface.

"And as for where," Ford chimed in, "I think its safe to assume his movement was limited to the town. Wierdmageddon couldn't pass over the border."

"So that, at least, is settled." Dane had returned his attention to the diagram, deep in thought. He tapped the drawing with his finger, and mumbled, "Now we only need a way to strengthen this. At this rate, it would need to be at least _doubled_ -" His blue eyes widened, and a grin spread across his face as he reached for a pencil and began frantically sketching around the borders of the circle, mumbling as he drew. "Why didn't I think of it _sooner_?"

Ford frowned, obviously not happy with the vandalism of his blueprint. "Are you... _adding_ symbols? True, more people would increase the strength, but it was hard enough finding suitable candidates for these! Where are we going to _find_ these people?"

Leaning over the demon's shoulder, Bobby furrowed his brow at the new symbols. Something seemed strangely... _familiar_ about them: A long, coiling squiggle. A circle with jagged spikes on one side. A swarm of some sort. What looked like a plain stick figure. A dog, then two dogs, then _three_. A slightly warped triangle. Another circle, with eight lines protruding from it. Staring at all of the images, he began to see them for what they were: Quigs. Dane was drawing the _quigs_.

Zadaa's snakes. Denduron's bears. Veelox's bees. Eelong's gars. First, Second, and Third Earth's dogs. Cloral's sharks. Quillan's spiders.

"The Travelers," Bobby murmured under his breath. "You want to use the Travelers."

Ford stared at the symbols curiously. "What on Earth is a Traveler?"

The former Lead Traveler grinned. "Not Earth. All of Halla. One for every territory Dane tried to conquer. My _friends_." His joy was palpable. He hadn't seen _any_ of the Travelers since the war had ended and the territories had been separated, and the thought of being able to simply see all of his friends again was amazing.

Dane frowned slightly. "There is one _slight_ problem. The flumes aren't exactly in working order, and neither of us currently possess the full powers of Solara."

The grin fell from Bobby's face. "Right. How do we _get_ to everyone?"

The three men furrowed their brows, at a loss for how to gather the necessary players for their plan. Without some way to not only traverse space, but time itself, it seemed impossible. Without full access to Solara, they couldn't stop Bill.

From the entrance to the study, someone knocked lightly on the door frame. "Sounds to me like you need a touch of saving grace."

All three turned abruptly to the door. Bobby's face lit up in a grin, while the other two stared at the newcomer in disbelief. Ford was the first to speak, stepping forward as if he could hardly belief his eyes.

"... _Press_? Is that really you?"


End file.
